Proceedings: Using Stem Cell Therapies to Reestablish Osteogenic Capability for Bone Regeneration.

UNLABELLED: The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has invested approximately $70 million in programs targeting various orthopedic indications, including osteoporosis, bone fracture healing, vertebral compression fractures, and several others. The present article serves to outline the current state of CIRM's more advanced programs, comparing and contrasting them with the current standard of care and several other novel approaches under development. SIGNIFICANCE: This report describes CIRM bone programs that are in contrast to current cell therapy approaches. These projects aim to enhance stem cell activity for bone regeneration.

Proceedings: Moving Toward Cell-Based Therapies for Heart Disease.

Heart disease due to myocardial infarction and the ensuing heart failure represent a major unmet medical need. Approved treatments do not prevent loss of cardiac muscle or reduce scar formation, both of which weaken heart function. Cell-based therapies currently being investigated both preclinically and clinically have the potential to address these underlying problems either by actually replacing lost tissue or by supplying paracrine growth factors that may have multiple beneficial effects such as reduction of inflammation, increase of blood supply, improvement in cell survival, and reduction of scar size. The best cell types, stage of disease to target, and delivery method to improve heart function are currently unclear. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine supports multiple different cell-therapy strategies for heart disease, offering hope that improved treatments will be available for patients in the future.

Proceedings: moving toward cell-based therapies for liver disease.

Despite available medical therapy and organ transplantation, a significant unmet medical need remains for the treatment of liver failure, end-stage liver disease, and liver-based inborn errors of metabolism. Liver cell transplantation has the potential to address this need; however, the field is in search of a suitable cell therapeutic. The ability to reproducibly generate a well-characterized source of engraftable and functional liver cells has continued to be a challenge. Recent progress with tissue-derived stem/progenitor cells and pluripotent stem cell-derived cells now offers the field the opportunity to address this challenge.

Proceedings: debilitating eye diseases.

Debilitating eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa currently represent a large unmet medical need that could potentially be addressed by stem cell therapy. A number of novel stem cell-based cellular therapies are now under development to treat a variety of eye diseases. The approaches being taken by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, together with its grantees, are discussed.